Recommendations on books about Texas and Texas authors
Ted Samsel
J Frank Dobie..
TR Fehrenbach..
Duval's EARLY TIMES IN TEXAS
Jeff Long's EMPIRE OF BONES (about the Runaway Scrape) & A GATHERING
OF EAGLES
Edwin (Bud) Shrake's BLESSED MCGILL & STRANGE PEACHES
Billy Lee Brammer's THE GAY PLACE
DS Phantom's TEXAS RISING....
Michener.... ugh!
Tom Kirk (tk...@zycor.lgc.com) wrote:
: I'm looking for some recommendations for books about Texas and/or
: books written by Texas authors.
:
: Big category, I know, so to narrow it down some... I have just
: completed several Cormac McCarthy books and loved them, and I'm now
: working on Michener's Texas.
:
: Fiction or Non-Fiction, anything on Texas history, heritage, character,
: geology, oil industry, cowboys etc.
:
: Thanks for any and all responses, I'd prefer email, but posting is fine
: too.
: --
: Tom Kirk
: Landmark Graphics Corporation tk...@zycor.lgc.com
: 220 Foremost Drive (512) 292-2382
: Austin, Texas 78745 (512) 292-2220 FAX
--
Ted Samsel....tejas@infi.net *1996* Year of the Accordion~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Home of the brave, land of the free,
I don't want to be mistreated by no bourgoisie."
AAFOUF# 0000003 Huddie Ledbetter
Jim Tennison
t>Tom Kirk (tk...@zycor.lgc.com) wrote:
>: I'm looking for some recommendations for books about Texas and/or
>: books written by Texas authors.
>:
>: Big category, I know, so to narrow it down some... I have just
>: completed several Cormac McCarthy books and loved them, and I'm now
>: working on Michener's Texas.
>:
>: Fiction or Non-Fiction, anything on Texas history, heritage, character,
>: geology, oil industry, cowboys etc.
>:
>: Thanks for any and all responses, I'd prefer email, but posting is fine
>: too.
>: --
>: Tom Kirk
>: Landmark Graphics Corporation tk...@zycor.lgc.com
>: 220 Foremost Drive (512) 292-2382
>: Austin, Texas 78745 (512) 292-2220 FAX
Tom,
Have you read the Larry McMurtry novels yet? He grew up in Texas, and was first
known as a "Texas regonal writer"., Some of his early books LAST PICTURE SHOW,
HORSEMAN PASS BY, and LEAVING CHEYENNE are about growing up in east Texas. Also
the LONESOME DOVE series is about Texas and beyond.
Jim Tennison (mailto:tenn...@erols.com)
Washington, DC, USA
David Forrest
>Tom Kirk (tk...@zycor.lgc.com) wrote:
>: I'm looking for some recommendations for books about Texas and/or
>: books written by Texas authors.
>:
>: Big category, I know, so to narrow it down some... I have just
>: completed several Cormac McCarthy books and loved them, and I'm now
>: working on Michener's Texas.
>:
>: Fiction or Non-Fiction, anything on Texas history, heritage, character,
>: geology, oil industry, cowboys etc.
I'd agree with almost all the other recommendations folks have made
(I'd especially second the ones for Graves' books and much of
McMurtry's work). I'd add a suggestion to consider Robert Caro's
multi-part biography of LBJ, especially the first volume.
John K. Taber
> Tom Kirk (tk...@zycor.lgc.com) wrote:
> : I'm looking for some recommendations for books about Texas and/or
> : books written by Texas authors.
Larry McMurtry, of course!
--
=========================================================================Whoever . . . knowingly and for profit manufactures, reproduces, or uses
the character "Woodsy Owl", the name "Woodsy Owl", or the associated
slogan, "Give a Hoot, Don't Pollute" shall be fined not more than $250 or
imprisoned not more than six months, or both. -- 18 U.S.C. sec. 711a.
Blau Zahl
>: Fiction or Non-Fiction, anything on Texas history, heritage, character,
>: geology, oil industry, cowboys etc.
_Ghosts Along the Brazos_ (by C. Munson Foster??? One of the names is
Munson... I can check...) Traditional ghost stories told in the Brazos
County area.
Als
PJK
In article <4udvm1$n...@mari.onr.com>,
on Thu, 08 Aug 1996 23:25:08 GMT,
David Forrest <for...@onr.com> writes:
>
>>Tom Kirk (tk...@zycor.lgc.com) wrote:
>>: I'm looking for some recommendations for books about Texas and/or
>>: books written by Texas authors.
>>: Big category, I know, so to narrow it down some... I have just
>>: completed several Cormac McCarthy books and loved them, and I'm now
>>: working on Michener's Texas.
>>:
>>: geology, oil industry, cowboys etc.
>
>(I'd especially second the ones for Graves' books and much of
>McMurtry's work). I'd add a suggestion to consider Robert Caro's
>multi-part biography of LBJ, especially the first volume.
>
Lone Star is a good history of Texas, from pre-historical times on. There are
several good bios of Davy Crockett, the best , IMO, is the Frontiersman. And
there is a bio of Jim Bowie and a fictional account of his life - the Iron
Mistress.
HTH
Pjk
Meg Worley
Why the Sam Hill hasn't anyone mentioned Frank Dobie's
*Bowl of Red* yet, TED?!?
Rage away, rage away, rage away, Dixieland,
meg
--
m...@steam.stanford.edu Comparatively Literate
Lars Eighner
You can come meet several Texas writers at Book Stop,
4001 N. Lamar, Thursday, August 15, 7-9 pm.
--
=Lars Eighner=4103 Ave D (512)459-6693==_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
= eig...@io.com =Austin TX 78751-4617_/ alt.books.lars-eighner _/
= http://www.io.com/~eighner/ _/ now at better ISPs everywhere _/
="Yes, Lizbeth is fine."==========_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
Yatesian
Couldn't tell from your post whether you'd be interested in literary
fiction or not, but if you are, check out William Goyen's writing. He's a
Texan (dead now) who, more than anyone else I've read, really captures the
distinctive language of the state. Some of his stories are pretty weird,
and many consider him an acquired taste, but he's also pretty funny, a
real Texas original.
Ted Samsel
Meg Worley (m...@Steam.Stanford.EDU) wrote:
: Why the Sam Hill hasn't anyone mentioned Frank Dobie's
: *Bowl of Red* yet, TED?!?
:
:
: Rage away, rage away, rage away, Dixieland,
Megmegmegmeg...
That's by FRANK X Tolbert, former Ft Worth newsman. As were Bud Shrake,
Dan Jenkins, etc.
Then there's Roy Bedicheck (ADVENTURES OF A TEXAS NATURALIST), Walter
Prescott Webb.....
Check out the two recent biographies of Sam Houston (1993 was his
bicentenary) as well. And Paul I Wellman (THE IRON MISTRESS) is in
the same category as Frank Yerby. (oof).
For those of you liking graphic novels (comix?), check out the work of
my old compadre, Jack Jaxon. He did a biography of Quanah Parker (son
of Petah Nocona & Cynthia Ann Parker) as well as one on Juan Seguin,
a tejano settler who fought on the side of the Texians during the war
of independence.
Francis Muir
Ted Samsel writes:
Meg Worley writes:
Why the Sam Hill hasn't anyone mentioned Frank Dobie's
BOWL OF RED yet, Ted?!?
Rage away, rage away, rage away, Dixieland,
Who but one of the Georgics would place Texas in Dixie?
Megmegmegmeg...
That's by FRANK X Tolbert, former Ft Worth newsman.
With a middle initial X, you know that boy's not Lutheran. When
I was a denizen of Dallas some years back living in a condo just
off Love Field and tyre marks on the roof to prove it -- DFW being
then entirely notional -- I remember FXT and several other Quite
Rich Texans (Stanley Marcus? Briggs Cunningham?) being the organizers
of the Annual Chili Cook-off that is now no more than a label for
some rather expensive N-M products and quite without merit.
Fido
Meg Worley
I wrote:
> Why the Sam Hill hasn't anyone mentioned Frank Dobie's
> BOWL OF RED yet, Ted?!?
>
> Rage away, rage away, rage away, Dixieland,
Ted writes:
> That's by FRANK X Tolbert, former Ft Worth newsman.
Yes, of course you are absolutely right. I don't know
*what* I was thankin' of, but my mama is gonna git after
me fer sure if she hears about it.
Then Francis adds:
>Who but one of the Georgics would place Texas in Dixie?
Me, a Georgian? I'm from Texas, and don't you forget it.
Does having lived in Sub-Saharan Africa make you a Wolof?
ObBook: *Orlando*.
Rage away,
C J Monahan
essential reading on one aspect of Texas music is Joe Carr and Alan
Munde's Prairie Nights to Neon Lights: The Story of Country Music in
West Texas (Lubbock: Texas Tech University Press, 1995). a great read!
for a bibliography of more than 400 books about Texas music, try
the Robot Vegetable
Francis Muir (fra...@pangea.stanford.edu) wrote:
: Who but one of the Georgics would place Texas in Dixie?
Texas may not be in Dixie, but there's plenty of Dixie
in Texas, judging from _The Pistoleer_ by James Carlos Blake,
which is a novelization of John Wesley Hardin's life and a
bang up good read. Much of Hardin's mixed reputation came
from ongoing tension after the war between the yankee
occupation government and those who didn't care for them much.
veg
Meg Worley
Robotty writes:
> Texas may not be in Dixie, but there's plenty of Dixie
>in Texas.
If it weren't for Tennessee, there wouldn't be a Texas. Look
at all the Tejano heroes born in Tennessee; the reason Tenn.
is called "the Volunteer State" is because more than three
quarters of the volunteers for the War of Mexican Aggression
were from Tennessee. Even today, the Texan and Tennesseean
accents are more similar than 'most any other pair of Southron
states.
Ted Samsel
Meg Worley (m...@Steam.Stanford.EDU) wrote:
:
: If it weren't for Tennessee, there wouldn't be a Texas. Look
: at all the Tejano heroes born in Tennessee; the reason Tenn.
: is called "the Volunteer State" is because more than three
: quarters of the volunteers for the War of Mexican Aggression
: were from Tennessee. Even today, the Texan and Tennesseean
: accents are more similar than 'most any other pair of Southron
: states.
Earlier this summer (see: Pro-Active Wodehousians in Appalachia) I
motored through Rockbridge County and paused for reflection at the site
of the Birthplace of Sam Houston. (8x10 glossy available for a nominal
fee). This stop was in part due to the public school teaching of Texas
History in the old style, one of whose main tenents is that Texas was
brought culture by the Virginians. Old Sam was also a Tennessee corngressman
and governor. His stint as guv was shortlived and the story goes, he was
married in office and on the honeymoon, there was something found amiss
by the young local beauty in the guv. He left office abruptly and went
back to the Cherokee.
This piece of trivia aside, my point is:
"Is Texas a joke played on the world by Virginia or is Virginia a joke
played on the world by Texas?"
My next lecture will commence apace.
Francis Muir
Ted Samsel asks:
Is Texas a joke played on the world by Virginia or is
Virginia a joke played on the world by Texas?
From my perspective it makes never no mind. I *am* bothered by the
thought that the histories of Texas and Tennessee would have been
somewhat different if the Alamo had had a back-door.
Fido
Meg Worley
Francis writes:
>From my perspective it makes never no mind. I *am* bothered by the
>thought that the histories of Texas and Tennessee would have been
>somewhat different if the Alamo had had a back-door.
You would get all that & more if you checked out the scandalous
De La Pen~a diaries, housed in the archives of the Univ. of Texas
at San Anto library. There's more than one story of the heroes
of the Alamo floating around.
Jim Hartley
David Forrest (for...@onr.com) wrote:
> I'd add a suggestion to consider Robert Caro's
> multi-part biography of LBJ, especially the first volume.
Is this a suggestion based on its relationship to Texas or based on the
quality of the tome? I read the second volume and thought it was
excellent, but felt no urge to learn about LBJs youth. Was the first
volume a better book?
And does anyone know of a publishing date for the third volume?
--
Jim Hartley
jhar...@mtholyoke.edu
tamu.edu
Blau Zahl (als...@midway.uchicago.edu) wrote:
: _Ghosts Along the Brazos_ (by C. Munson Foster??? One of the names is
: Munson... I can check...) Traditional ghost stories told in the Brazos
: County area.
+---------------------------------SubG------------------------------------+
Catherine Munson Foster, I believe. A gift to me was made of the
abovementioned book by a well-intentioned relative who knew of Your
Humble Narrator's fondness for librettage. The copy which was mine,
and may or may not still be, was personally inscribed by the authoress
with the epigram `Happy Haunting', which really says it all.
Yours etc.,
SubGenius
John McCarthy
In article <4um3bc$4...@Steam.Stanford.EDU> m...@Steam.Stanford.EDU (Meg Worley) writes:
Francis writes:
>From my perspective it makes never no mind. I *am* bothered by the
>thought that the histories of Texas and Tennessee would have been
>somewhat different if the Alamo had had a back-door.
You would get all that & more if you checked out the scandalous
De La Pen~a diaries, housed in the archives of the Univ. of Texas
at San Anto library. There's more than one story of the heroes
of the Alamo floating around.
Lastly, when we arrive at the new Southwestern states, in
which the constitution of society dates but from yesterday
and presents only an agglomeration of adventurers and
speculators, we are amazed at the persons who are invested
with public authority, and we are led to ask by what force,
independent of legislation and of the men who direct it, the
state can be protected and society be made to flourish.
Alexis de Tocqueville, _Democracy in America_, 1836
--
John McCarthy, Computer Science Department, Stanford, CA 94305
*
He who refuses to do arithmetic is doomed to talk nonsense.
http://www-formal.stanford.edu/jmc/progress/
Ted Samsel
Jim Hartley (jhar...@mtholyoke.edu) wrote:
: David Forrest (for...@onr.com) wrote:
: > I'd add a suggestion to consider Robert Caro's
: > multi-part biography of LBJ, especially the first volume.
:
: Is this a suggestion based on its relationship to Texas or based on the
: quality of the tome? I read the second volume and thought it was
: excellent, but felt no urge to learn about LBJs youth. Was the first
: volume a better book?
A bit better, but with more (quite important) background on the milieu
(does Texas have milieux? Sure as hell does!) from whence he sprang.
:
: And does anyone know of a publishing date for the third volume?
:
Probably waiting for LadyBird to pass on...
Ted Samsel
And another "graphic/comix" sort of Texas thang is TEXAS HISTORY MOVIES.
This was serialized during the Centennial in 1936 by (I think) the
Dallas Morning News. It's a funky cartooned depiction of Texas History.
And try to find the older version and compare it to the "more current
and PC" version that deleted some of the ethnic slurs. One of the
deletions that really confuses me is a panel wherein some Mexican
general who is muy borracho kicks a cat and sez: "Ay caramba!"
I guess the PETA foax had a say in this sesquicentennial edition, for
that one was deleted.
"Let's teach these turtles how to two-step"
balloon from one of Jean Lafitte's pyrates when depicting said
pyrate putting the moves on a Galveston barmaid in Texas History
Movies.
Steve Baum
In article <320DE1...@pangea.stanford.edu>,
Francis Muir <fra...@stanford.edu> wrote:
>
>With a middle initial X, you know that boy's not Lutheran. When
>I was a denizen of Dallas some years back living in a condo just
>off Love Field and tyre marks on the roof to prove it -- DFW being
>then entirely notional -- I remember FXT and several other Quite
>Rich Texans (Stanley Marcus? Briggs Cunningham?) being the organizers
>of the Annual Chili Cook-off that is now no more than a label for
>some rather expensive N-M products and quite without merit.
The (in)famous Terlingua chili cook-off originated
with the N.Y. humorist H. Allen Smith writing a column
in which he opined that that lone star hayseeds didn't
know jack-diddly about chili. He then published his
own recipe which, seeing how it included beans, started
a bit of a tiff betwixt he, Tolbert and a few other
good ol' boys. This resulted in the first Terlingua
cook-off circa 1970 (my copy of Tolbert's book is at
home so I can't pin that down at present). Tolbert's
book is a most entertaining account of the early (i.e.
before every schmuck with a cast iron pot, a jalapeno and
a six-pack of lone star got involved) years, with such
unforgettable scenes as one of the chefs having a bit
too much lone star and falling face first into his
wok full of chili.
The only bad thing I can say about the book is that
most of those wonderful rib joints and BBQ shacks that
Tolbert describes in the latter half of the book are
long gone, replaced by McRib sandwiches or worse (if
that's possible).
In the way of book recommendations I'll add the
cookbook "Texas on the Half-Shell" to the list. It's
got some history, some bullshit, and quite a few good
recipes for chili, BBQ, beans, etc. (with "etc. being
those annoying side dishes that get in the way of the
chili, BBQ and beans) to recommend it. Brisket Bob
sez check it out.
skb
--
% Steven K. Baum (ba...@astra.tamu.edu) // Physical Oceanography Dept. //
% Texas A&M // Ultimate trendy science paper: "Chaotic fuzzy neural
% wavelet genetic multigrid model of greenhouse warming" //
% URL = http://www-ocean.tamu.edu/~baum
John Camp
Baja Oklahoma, Dan Jenkins.
Joe Wortham
tenn...@erols.com (Jim Tennison) wrote:
>
> t>Tom Kirk (tk...@zycor.lgc.com) wrote:
> >: I'm looking for some recommendations for books about Texas and/or
> >: books written by Texas authors.
> >:
>
>
> If you aren't aquainted with William Cowper Brann and The
Iconoclast you are in for weeks of reading pleasure. For a
brief review of his work see my web page ---
http://www.usd.edu/~jwortham/brann.html
Joe W.
David Forrest
Jim Hartley (jhar...@mtholyoke.edu) wrote:
>: David Forrest (for...@onr.com) wrote:
>: > I'd add a suggestion to consider Robert Caro's
>: > multi-part biography of LBJ, especially the first volume.
>:
>: Is this a suggestion based on its relationship to Texas or based on the
>: quality of the tome? I read the second volume and thought it was
>: excellent, but felt no urge to learn about LBJs youth. Was the first
>: volume a better book?
One of the biggest strengths of the first volume was the way it
painted a vivid portrait of what life was really like for the average
person in Central and West Texas prior to WW II.
Yatesian
Somebody (sorry I don't know who, but I haven't got the hang of this
responder yet) said:
>>Who but one of the Georgics would place Texas in Dixie?<<
Actually, East Texas considered itself part of the Confederacy, and I
think the feeling was mutual. If you travel through the region you will
see all kinds of Confederate monuments. So give the "Georgic" a break,
okay?
Russell Turpin
-*-------
In article <4utffa$c...@newsbf02.news.aol.com>,> and I think the feeling was mutual. ...
Texas did secede, and did contribute troops and supplies to the
Confederate war effort.
Russell
--
How can I be called conservative? I'm pro-prostitution,
pro-pornography, pro-abortion, pro-legalization of drugs,
pro-homosexuality, and pro-drag queens. -- Camille Paglia
william r smith
Yatesian wrote:
Actually, East Texas considered itself part of the Confederacy,
and I think the feeling was mutual. ...
Russell Turpin wrote:
Texas did secede, and did contribute troops and supplies to the
Confederate war effort.
One of Lyndon Johnson's political goals was to have Texas viewed
as being aligned with the West rather than the South.
William Sburgfort Smith
_______________________________________________________________________________
William Smith will...@mhpcc.edu
Maui High Performance Computing Center WWW: http://www.mhpcc.edu
_______________________________________________________________________________
Joe Wortham
yate...@aol.com (Yatesian) wrote:
>
> Somebody (sorry I don't know who, but I haven't got the hang of this
> responder yet) said:
>
> >>Who but one of the Georgics would place Texas in Dixie?<<
>
> see all kinds of Confederate monuments. So give the "Georgic" a break,
> okay?
---
You-all ever heard of Sloan's Texas Rangers. Certainly a proud and
effective fighting group. Many graveyards throughout Texas have
markers commerating their service to the Confederacy.
Joe W.
Ken MacIver
Joe Wortham <jwor...@sunflowr.usd.edu> wrote:
>Joe W.
Once, I spent the better part of a week traveling between Shreveport
and Longview and I swear they'd shot my yankee ass my rental car didnt
have Louisiana plates!
Ken
Ted Samsel
Ken MacIver (nan...@tiac.net) wrote:
:
: Once, I spent the better part of a week traveling between Shreveport
: and Longview and I swear they'd shot my yankee ass my rental car didnt
: have Louisiana plates!
So why did it take you that long to drive what normally takes 2.5 hours?
Did you try to use tha Louisiana Carte d'Chemins? Did you stop in Karnak?
Nameless? Or Teneha, Timpson, Bobo & Blair? (A real Texas trivia buff SHOULD
know that one.....)
ObTip: Never take a car with Texas plates into rural Northern N Mexico.
Ken MacIver
te...@infi.net (Ted Samsel) wrote:
>Ken MacIver (nan...@tiac.net) wrote:
>:
>: Once, I spent the better part of a week traveling between Shreveport
>: and Longview and I swear they'd shot my yankee ass my rental car didnt
>: have Louisiana plates!
>So why did it take you that long to drive what normally takes 2.5 hours?
>Did you try to use tha Louisiana Carte d'Chemins? Did you stop in Karnak?
>Nameless? Or Teneha, Timpson, Bobo & Blair? (A real Texas trivia buff SHOULD
>know that one.....)
>ObTip: Never take a car with Texas plates into rural Northern N Mexico.
>--
>Ted Samsel
I should have said "traveling back and forth" between Shreveport &
Longview but didn't b/c of the 10 beer rule. The trip actually isnt
much more than an hour, as I recall (about 70 miles). Hardscrabble
country, though. I did find a good Cajun restaurant on the riverbank
in Shreveport, though I cant remember its name.
Ken
Kanga
Speaking of Texas: Cormac McCarthy (ALL THE PRETTY HORSES) is due for
another book. Has anyone heard anything about a new book and when it's due
out?
Thanks,
Kanga
moggin
te...@infi.net (Ted Samsel):
>ObTip: Never take a car with Texas plates into rural Northern N
>Mexico.
You know what they say in south-eastern New Mexico, don't
you? "So far from Heaven, so close to Texas."
-- moggin
Jim Hartley
Ted:
> >ObTip: Never take a car with Texas plates into rural Northern N Mexico.
Rural Northern New Mexico?? As opposed to Metropolitan Northern New Mexico?
The Mandatory book: _The Bell Curve_ --just cuz I haven't seen a post
about it yet tonight.
--
Jim Hartley
jhar...@mtholyoke.edu
Frank Ridgway
In article <4vgr27$i...@news-central.tiac.net>, nan...@tiac.net (Ken
MacIver) wrote:
>
> Once, I spent the better part of a week traveling between Shreveport
> and Longview and I swear they'd shot my yankee ass my rental car didnt
> have Louisiana plates!
I spent the first eighteen years of my life in roughly the same place.
Now, Shreveport may combine in one place the shabby provencialism of
Arkansas, the decadent corruption of Louisiana and the overbearing
vulgarity of Texas, but don't let anyone say you can't get a pretty damn
good chicken-fried steak there.
Seriously, I wonder if you happened to see the diminutive little old
three-quarter size statue of Lead Belly in front of the downtown library.
Not only does Huddie appear to be about five-feet tall (could this be
accurate?), but it's on Texas Street, not Fannin Street.
Bourgeois town, indeed!
>
> Ken
_______________________________________________
Frank Ridgway, without an "e" fri...@jump.net
Oh! If it were only out of laziness that I do nothing!
--Dostoyevsky, _Notes_
John K. Taber
Frank Ridgway wrote:
> but don't let anyone say you can't get a pretty damn
A good chicken-fried steak is an oxymoron. It is a Wienerschnitzel that
suffered horribly in the voyage to Texas. It must have landed in
Galveston on a slave ship. The breading is too thick and
greasy. The meat is tenderized beef instead of a tender veal cutlet.
And the gravy is an awful white paste.
You need Tums after eating it.
--
=========================================================================
Whoever . . . knowingly and for profit manufactures, reproduces, or uses
the character "Woodsy Owl", the name "Woodsy Owl", or the associated
slogan, "Give a Hoot, Don't Pollute" shall be fined not more than $250 or
imprisoned not more than six months, or both. -- 18 U.S.C. sec. 711a.
John McCarthy
In article <321F05...@onramp.net> "John K. Taber" <jkt...@onramp.net> writes:
Frank Ridgway wrote:
> but don't let anyone say you can't get a pretty damn
> good chicken-fried steak there. [in Shreveport]
A good chicken-fried steak is an oxymoron. It is a Wienerschnitzel that
suffered horribly in the voyage to Texas. It must have landed in
Galveston on a slave ship. The breading is too thick and
greasy. The meat is tenderized beef instead of a tender veal cutlet.
And the gravy is an awful white paste.
You need Tums after eating it.
Exam question in comparative snobology:
(20 points, partial credit given) Compare and contrast food snobs with
pronunciation snobs.
John K. Taber
John McCarthy wrote:
>
> In article <321F05...@onramp.net> "John K. Taber" <jkt...@onramp.net> writes:
> A good chicken-fried steak is an oxymoron. It is a Wienerschnitzel that
> suffered horribly in the voyage to Texas. It must have landed in
> Galveston on a slave ship. The breading is too thick and
> greasy. The meat is tenderized beef instead of a tender veal cutlet.
> And the gravy is an awful white paste.
> You need Tums after eating it.
> Exam question in comparative snobology:
> (20 points, partial credit given) Compare and contrast food snobs with
> pronunciation snobs.
Foul! Offensive too. You should guess first that disliking certain foods
is a matter of taste before settling on snobbery.
For Texas dishes I like (in no order)
jalapenos
grits
collard greens (hate turnip greens)
chili
beans
BBQ beef, especially hickory smoked East Texas style
What possessed you to assume snobbery? Politics?
John McCarthy
In article <321F69...@onramp.net> "John K. Taber" <jkt...@onramp.net> writes:
John McCarthy wrote:
>
> In article <321F05...@onramp.net> "John K. Taber" <jkt...@onramp.net> writes:
> A good chicken-fried steak is an oxymoron. It is a Wienerschnitzel that
> suffered horribly in the voyage to Texas. It must have landed in
> Galveston on a slave ship. The breading is too thick and
> greasy. The meat is tenderized beef instead of a tender veal cutlet.
> And the gravy is an awful white paste.
> You need Tums after eating it.
> Exam question in comparative snobology:
> (20 points, partial credit given) Compare and contrast food snobs with
> pronunciation snobs.
Foul! Offensive too. You should guess first that disliking certain foods
is a matter of taste before settling on snobbery.
For Texas dishes I like (in no order)
jalapenos
grits
collard greens (hate turnip greens)
chili
beans
BBQ beef, especially hickory smoked East Texas style
What possessed you to assume snobbery? Politics?
That wasn't a mere expression of taste. What about this slave ship
stuff? Moreover, I doubt that any slave ships landed in Galveston,
because the U.S. slave trade was ended in 1808, and Americans didn't
start settling Texas and bringing in slaves until the 1820s or maybe
not until Texas was independent, slavery having been illegal in Mexico.
Personally, I like jalapenos only a little, dislike all greens except
spinach, and like the other things you mention. I like both Wiener
Schnitzel and chicken fried steak, although I can't remember ever
being in a restaurant where I had to choose between the two.
Does anyone know of a restaurant that would serve both? I wouldn't be
surprised if the Wiener Schnitzel chain served both in its Texas
restaurants.
John K. Taber
John McCarthy wrote:
>
> In article <321F69...@onramp.net> "John K. Taber" <jkt...@onramp.net> writes:
> What possessed you to assume snobbery? Politics?
>
> That wasn't a mere expression of taste. What about this slave ship
> stuff? Moreover, I doubt that any slave ships landed in Galveston,
> because the U.S. slave trade was ended in 1808, and Americans didn't
> start settling Texas and bringing in slaves until the 1820s or maybe
> not until Texas was independent, slavery having been illegal in Mexico.
Prof McCarthy, you read far too much into my post. I can only guess
what you meant. Believe me, it was a matter of taste. I do eat
chicken-fried steak, but I don't like them. It's my idiosyncracy
and really needs no defense. Also, I do have to take a Tums afterwards.
In regard to Galveston, it was an exaggeration on my part. I regret
that the attempt at humor failed for you.
My guess is, you leaped to the conclusion that I was knocking Texas.
I wasn't. I have lived here for many years now. Texas has its
disagreeable parts, I won't deny that, the worst being the summer
heat, but I rather like it here anyway.
Sometimes you confuse me. If I guessed right that you leaped to a
conclusion, why would the reference to slave ships and
Galveston so prompt you? Is that a politically sensitive point?
BTW, and totally unrelated, I think slaves were brought into Galveston
by ship long after 1808 as you claim. US law has nothing to do with
what Texans did. Maybe somebody out there with better knowledge than me
can settle that for us.
My guess that chicken-fried steak was originally Wienerschnitzel may
prove wrong, but it is a good guess.
John McCarthy
It hadn't occurred to me that chicken fried steak was originally
wienerschnitzel. There are enough Germans in Texas for that to be
plausible.
I could say more, but I think I'll stop.
Ken MacIver
"John K. Taber" <jkt...@onramp.net> wrote:
>Frank Ridgway wrote:
>> but don't let anyone say you can't get a pretty damn
>> good chicken-fried steak there. [in Shreveport]
>A good chicken-fried steak is an oxymoron. It is a Wienerschnitzel that
>suffered horribly in the voyage to Texas. It must have landed in
>Galveston on a slave ship. The breading is too thick and
>greasy. The meat is tenderized beef instead of a tender veal cutlet.
>And the gravy is an awful white paste.
>You need Tums after eating it.
Now, wait a minute. I had a delicious chicken fried steak smothered
in cream gravy, near, but not in, Shreveport. With it came little
bowls of collard greens and corn and two hot biscuits. I washed the
whole thing down with a cold Dixie (okay, nothing's perfect) and left
feeling the world was right.
Ken
Marty Priola
Kanga,
Cormac McCarthy's Border Trilogy (ALL THE PRETTY HORSES, THE
CROSSING) concludes with CITIES OF THE PLAIN (at least, that's the
tentative title). Last I heard from Knopf, they were saying late
this year, but most probably next spring.
Meanwhile, one of his screenplays, THE GARDENER'S SON is due out
before the end of September. It's NOT a Texas book, but it IS a
McCarthy, which is generally cause for celebration.
And if you or anoyne else wants to know more about McCarthy or his
work, visit the official website of The Cormac McCarthy Sociey at:
http://pages.prodigy.com/cormac/index.htm
I'll be posting updates there about anything at all having to do with
McCarthy as I get information. We are also looking for submissions
to our online forum, which will grow into the Cormac McCarthy Journal.
Check it out, and let me know what you think.
--Marty Priola
Assistant Secretary and Webmaster
The Cormac McCarthy Society